Packing



Jan. 9, 1945. 1

E. HANSON PACKING Filed Dec. 27', 1940 INVENTOR.

EDWARD HANSO N.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 9, 19 45 UNITED .STATES- PATENT orrlcs 3332322. t. z... a...

a 3 Claims. This invention relates to packing for a shaft to seal it with respect to the housing or othermember through which the shaft extends, whereby liquid or a gas on oneside of the packing cannot escape; more specifically the invention relates to packing for a shaft, having combined or incorporated therewith lubricating means, whereby the shaft may readily rotate and the packing insure sealing of the shaft opening. Where packings, of which I have knowledge, have heretofore been lubricated, no provision has been made to so apply the lubricant that it would flow or otherwise be supplied between the engaged surfaces of the shaft and packing, but the lubricant was merely injected into the packing and capillary attraction inherent in the packing material was relied upon to effect the desired lubrication. Such an arrangement has been found to be inadequate probably because the compression on the packing prevented the lubricant from seeping therethrough.

In the following disclosure, the invention is, by way of example, applied to or within a hollow boss, which is provided on the wall of a housing containing one or more operating devices, and seals the shaft which extends through the boss to operate the devices within the housing.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved shaft packing having portions so related to the surface of the shaft that the latter in rotating serves to convey the lubricant to the bearing surface of the packing material.

Another object of the invention is to provide,

an improved shaft packing having spaced portions disposed angularly and off-set longitudinally of the axis of the shaft for sealing engagement with the latter and a lubricant supply means, arrangedto supply lubricant'to the shaft whereby the latter in rotating serves to convey the lubricant to that surface of the packing material which engages the shaft.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved shaft packing or gland wherein is incorporated a lubricant reservoir so related to portions of the packing that the shaft, when rotating, conveys the lubricant into contact with that surface of the packing, which engages the shaft.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved combined packing and lubricating means therefor the parts of which are arranged to permit compression of the packing to insure sealing;

A further object of the invention isto provide an improved combined packing and lubricating meanstherefor of simple and economical construction.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which my invention relates from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein a Fig. 1 s a fragmentary section of a lubricated packing embodying my invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 are fragmentary sections illus-' trating modifications of the packing and embodying my invention.

- In the drawing, referring particularly to Fig. 1, I indicates a hollow boss forming an integral part of a casing or housing I (see Fig. 2), which may contain gears, rotary pump elements or other operating parts to be driven by a shaft indicated at 2 and also a fluid in a gaseous or liquid state. 3 indicates as an entirety a packing seated in the enlarged portion of the bore or opening la a through the boss I and serving to prevent leakage of the fluid contained in the housing i therefrom around the shaft 2. The boss I, adiacent its open end, is threaded internally to take a ing material.

, maximum heat that may be generated by the frictional engagement of the shaft with the pack- The members 5, 6, loosely fit the bore la of the boss I and have an internal diameter slightly greater than that of the shaft 2 to prevent frictional engagement therewith and permit the lubricant to spread thereover. The outer ends of the members 5, 6, are disposed in planes at right angles to their axes so that the outer end of the member 5 may rest against the shoulder la and the outer end of the member 6 may be engaged by the inner end of the nut 4. The opposed faces 5" of the members 5, 6, are disposed at an angle oblique to the axis of the shaft 2, but substantially parallel to each other. The internal diameter of the section of packing material I is such that when the nut 4 is tightened or screwed inwardly, the packing material is compressed radially inwardly to engage the shaft. It will be noted that when the members 5, 6, and section of packing material I are assembled, and

end face of each member 5, 6, may be beveled so as to extend inwardly, as shown at 8. In this form of construction the beveled walls tend to force the packing material I inwardly into sealing relation to the shaft, due to the screwing i of the nut 4.

each member 5', 6', is diametrically related a side One of themembers 5, B, for example, the

member 6, is externally recessed circumferentially, as shown at 8, to form a holder for a supply of suitable lubricant, and also formed with one or more radially disposed ducts 9, which lead from the bottom of the holder or reservoir 8' through the wall of the member, so that the lubricant in the holder; may flow into, engagement with the shaft 2 and spread over the adjacent surface of the latter within the member 6.

In the arrangement above described it will be noted that one side portion of the member 8 is diametrically related to a side portion of the packing material I in a plane at right angles to the axis of the shaft 2; that is, spaced portions of the packing 'l are off-set relative to each other longitudinally of the shaft so that one portion of the annulus 6 has an overlapping relation to a portion of the packing. Accordingly, by applying lubricant through this overlapping portion of the annulus 6 to the surface of the shaft 2, the latter as it rotates conveys the lubricant to the diametrically related portion of the packing material and hence lubricates the engaging surfaces between the packing and shaft; and as more lubricant is supplied to the shaft the continued rotation of the latter will cause the lubricant to flow or spread over the shaft to lubricate the entire inner surface of the packing material. The lubricant is supplied to the holder 8 through a passage or conduit III formed in the boss I, the outer end of the conduit being threaded to receive a removable closure II. The closure II is preferably consiructed to provide a check valve I la: (see Fig.

Fig. 2 illustrates a modified form wherein pro-'- vision is made for supplying lubricant to two sections of packing material. In this form of construction I provide terminating members 5', 8', an annular section of packing material I in engagement with the inner end of each member 5', 6, and an annulus II' between the sections of packing material I, the nut 4' when screwed in serving to exert pressure on these parts endwise of the shaft-2 so as to force the sections of packing material 1' into sealing contact with the shaft 2. The members 5', 6', and annulus I I loosely fit the bore I but their internal diameter is slightly larger than that of the shaft 2 to prevent contact therewith, and provide space for the lubricant between these parts and the shaft. The inner ends of the members 5', 8', are disposed at an oblique angle to the axis of the shaft 2, as already set forth in connection with the members 5, 6, and the op- .posite end walls of the annulus II' are shaped to correspond to the oblique angle of the inner ends of the members 5', 6', so that its opposite ends will co-act with the inner ends of the members 5', 6', to position the sections of packing material 1' at the same angle. The end walls of the members 5', 6, and annulus II which engage the sections I are beveled similarly to the end walls of the members 5, 6, as shown in Fig. 1 for like reasons.

portion of the adjacent packing section I, the

' annulus II has a side portion diametrically related to one side portion of each packing section 'I', so that while the annulus serves as a spacer between the sections I, it serves as'a lubricant supply means therefor. As shown, the outer wall of the annulus II' isformed with a circumferential recess I2 to receive andhold a supply of lubricant and at spaced points it is formed with radially extending ducts I3 through which the lubricant flows from the holder or reservoir I2 to the surface of the shaft2. Due to the relation of the opposite side portions of the annulus II' to respective side portions of the sections 1', the lubricant will be supplied to portions of the shafts surface which, due to the rotation of the shaft, will engage side portions. of the respective sections 1' to effect lubrication thereof. Continued rotation of the shaft 2 and supply of the lubricant will serve to spread or effect flow of the lubricant over the entire inner surfaces of the sections 1'. The lubricant is supplied to the holder I2 by a conduit I4 extending through the side wall of the boss I, its outer end being provided with screw threads to receive a removable closure 15, which is preferably provided with a check valve Ila.

Fig. 3 shows a modified form of packing mounted in the bore Ia of a boss I, consisting of terminal members 5:0, 62:, an annulus Ila and a section of suitable packing material 1:: between the annulus and each of the members 5.1:, 62:. In this arrangement, a hollow nut 41: when screwed into the outer end of the bore Ia serves to force these parts together and hence effect engagement of the packing material with the shaft 2. In this form of construction the opposite faces of the an-' nulus I la are of zigzag or substantially serpentine shape and the inner faces of the members 5x, 63:, are of complementary shape so that when these parts and the sections of packing material are assembled and forced into final position, the sections of packing material assume the shape of the related faces between these parts; although, if desired, the packing material may be pre-shaped to fit these zigzag shaped faces. The annulus I la is.formedin its external wall with a circumferential recess I6 to form a reservoir for the lubricant and also formed with a plurality of ducts l6 disposed radially and leading from the reservoir through the annulus to supply lubricant to the shaft 2, which, due to it's rotation, will cause the lubricant to spreador flow laterally over its surface. It follows from the shape of the end walls of the annulus I Ia that portions of the shaft overlap portions of the packing material in engagement therewith, so that the lubricant which flows or spreads over the shaft will be conveyed into contact with the packing material to lubricate its inner surface.

While my invention is shown applied to a shaft within a boss and the packing material is sub- Jected to pressure to prevent the escape of a liquid or a gas from a housing, it is equally adapted for employment where such pressure is not required, that is, in a tubular member or other arrangement where, if the escape of the liquid or the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the inven- In this arrangement, while one side portion of 75.tion. My disclosures and the description herein aseenao are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

What I claim is:

1. In a packing, the combination with a housing' have a boss and a shaft extending through the boss, of a packing mounted in said boss in surrounding relation to said shaft, said packing comprising a plurality of substantially rigid annular members, spaced members of said packing having opposed parallelly related end walls disposed in planes extending at an oblique angle to the shaft, and deformable packing material interposed between said spaced members, means for supplying lubricant in said shaft, and means for applying axial pressure to said members for forcing said packing material into sealing ens easement with the walls of the boss and said shaft, whereby the arrangement of the packing material in conjunction with the rotation of the shaft provides a wiping action for distributing the lubricant over the surfaces of the latter.

2. A packing as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lubricant supply means consists of a recess formed in the outer wall of one of said substanprising substantially rigid spaced members, an

intermediate substantially rigid member, the opposed end walls of said spaced and intermediate members being disposed in planes extending at an oblique angle to said shaft and deformable packing material interposed between said intertially rigidmembers, a duct leading from said 26 mediate member and each spaced member, means for supplying a lubricant through said intermediate member to said shaft, and means for applying axial pressure to said members for forcingsaid packing materials into sealing engagement with the walls of said boss and said shaft, whereby the arrangement of the packing materials in conjunction with the rotation of said shaft provides a wiplngaction for distributing the lubricant over the surfaces of the latter.

EDWARD HANSON. 

